Mark Eric Henderson Jr. saw his opportunity to escape from the Woodbury motel room where he and seven other people were being held hostage early Friday, and he took it.

When the gunman who had been tormenting the group told Henderson to go to the window to see if any police were outside, Henderson took his chance and made a beeline for the door. The kidnapper opened fire at him in response but missed. As Henderson bolted out the door toward them, Woodbury police opened fire and cut him down.

The 19-year-old St. Paul man died later that day at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

“He tried to get out to save his life,” said his mother, Tawana Henderson. “When he opened the hotel door to run out, the police opened fire and killed him.”

As you can see in this clip, the police initially reported the innocent hostage was armed and fired on police. A witness, who did not want to be identified, said he was watching everything take place and the man was not armed. Contradicting the police’s story at the time, he said, “I didn’t see a gun, I didn’t see anything. The cops opened up probably 10 to 15 rounds on him.”

The police eventually realized the “gunman” they unloaded on was an innocent hostage and they acknowledged he was unarmed. The three cops who shot the innocent 19-year-old were placed on “paid administrative leave” while the police conduct an “investigation” of themselves.